The Other Side

Downfall

Location: Once again FORMER Atlas territory

NO troops marched in sync down the road behind the tanks. Some civilians from a nearby village stood beside the road and watched as the soldiers passed, the line going as far as they could see through the snow. The NO soldiers did the same thing they always did in times of war, they dehumanize themselves. Gas masks and cloth hoods covered the heads, gloves covered the hands, thick coats and pants covered the rest. The tinted glass of the gas mask made them even more dehumanized, the civilians didn't know whether to be scared or relieved. 

The Atlesian military in this area had remained popular after the main government collapsed, they were the only source of information and protected the people. In exchange the civilians in the area joined their ranks and supplied the troops. The civilians did live under the regime and New Orderia promises to liberate them. However the question on their minds is, would that be better for them? To a civilian living in the region does replacing Atlas, the military that protected and employed them, with a foreign power really change things?

Either way, NO forces were going to end this war, no doubt about it. Atlas might be popular to the people but that doesn't mean they didn't kill New Orderian soldiers a few weeks prior. The moment the reports came to Goalaria and then to Earth the outcry was "every shot retaliated", any NO loss must be dealt back with 100 times the ferocity. 

Miles away the New Orderians began the final phase of Cormorant, killing whoever leads Atlas. The thing is the Atlas army really didn't want that to happen. Atlesian defenders had set up AA guns overnight and entrenched themselves on the bank of a river opposite to the NO advance. NO units would need to push across the bridge or they could wait for the navy. Both options benefited Atlas, either the NO forces try to fight through a tiny choke point or the attack doesn't happen and Atlesians can prepare for longer. 

NO field commanders made the decision to storm across anyways, but not how Atlas anticipated. APCs had been brought in early on into the fighting, said APCs were amphibious. Had Atlas known that they would have put tank traps on the bank, unfortunately it was too late. The 2nd Seige Division of the Shock Corp would be the ones to push, them being the best. Men of the 2nd F-D would be integrated due to their skill. 

The APCs moved across the river as Atlesian troops stood in their trenches in utter disbelief. When it set in they had made a mistake they started to fire their weapons at the APCs, small arms fire had no effect. Larger machine guns and rocket launchers however did do damage, but they were very obvious. The tanks New Orderia had brought up had been waiting along their side of the river ahead of the infantry personnel, all of these tanks began to fire. 

HE shells impacted and tore apart Atlesian defenses and officers called for a counter barrage. This is where the second Atlesian mistake was shown, all the AT guns were on the bridges. NO forces knew this and attacked a spot that made getting the guns there difficult. On top of that the APCs had gotten their 20mm guns zeroed in and they began to fire at the defenders. When the first groups of APCs landed soldiers dismounted as the guns kept firing. A landing area was secured and more APCs touched down. 

Atlas forces weren't going to give in without a fight and brought up the best thing they could, AA cannons(the automatic/machine gun kind, not something like a Flak 88). The AA gun opened fire and small HE shells detonated around the NO units causing moderate damage. Two more AA guns fired across the river at the NO tanks, their shells not having much effect but still managing to obscure the tank's vision. Thermals didn't help much because the several explosions masked the guns' signatures.

With the tanks no longer being an immediate threat the Atlas personnel began to fire their MGs again. The APCs retaliated with TOW missiles and their cannons. Explosions rocked the riverbank as the two sides clashed, infantry either charging up the slope or firing down it. As more NO units landed the Atlesians began to realize things weren't going their way, this was cemented when a few squads soldiers jumped into the trench. The Atlas commander in the area watched as hellfire crews advanced up and then incinerated an entire trench line full of defenders.